7.03 Sick Leave

Effective Date: September 1, 2013 (revised)

Purpose:

Sick leave is intended to provide paid time off when an employee is unable to work because of personal illness or injury, or for appointments with health care providers. This policy describes the benefit provided by the College to administrative staff, and the process for ensuring receipt of the benefit.

Procedure:

If an employee cannot report to work due to illness or injury, notification to the appropriate supervisor is required well in advance of the scheduled reporting time. If the immediate supervisor cannot be reached, the person in charge in the supervisor’s absence should be notified. Supervisors must be kept up-to-date about the status of an absence and the anticipated return date. Absences of more than five days in length fall under FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) entitlement and require special reporting.

Accruing Time

Employees hired on or before the 15th of any month accrue sick time for that month. Employees hired after the 15th of any month do not accrue sick time for that month.

Employees may begin using accrued sick leave after three months of eligible service.

The College’s accrual policy permits accruals up to the equivalent of six months of an employee’s contracted hours. If, after six months, an employee is unable to return to work, he or she may qualify for benefits under the College’s long-term disability insurance policy, provided for employees with an FTE of .75 or greater.

Full-time full-year employees: sick leave accrues at the rate of 15 days per calendar year (1.25 days for each month of service).

Part-time and/or academic year employees: sick leave accrues based on the above schedule, on a pro-rated basis.

Pay for sick leave for part-time employees is based on scheduled work hours. For example: an employee is scheduled to work Monday and Wednesday for eight hours each day and Friday for four hours, a total of 20 hours each week. If that employee is sick on a Monday, he or she is paid for eight hours. If he or she is sick on Tuesday, there is no sick pay. If sick on Friday, he or she will receive pay for four hours.

Termination, Extended Leaves, Other Leaves and Status Changes

Payment is not made for any unused sick time upon termination of employment.

Employees will only receive sick leave if there is sufficient time accrued — no “borrowing” against future accruals is permitted. For extended periods of medical disability, employees with insufficient sick leave must use available personal and vacation days.

Absence for approved leaves for illness exceeding sick, personal, and vacation time is taken as leave without pay. There are no sick time accruals during leaves of absence without pay, including Military Service Leaves.

If serious illness or injury occurs while an employee is on vacation, sick leave may be used with the permission of the department head. The College may require a physician’s certificate. If an employee is ill on a College holiday, paid sick leave may not be substituted.

To protect employees and the College, a health care provider’s certification may be required before an employee returns from a sick leave. If an employee undergoes treatment for a contagious disorder, or in cases of recurring absences, he or she may be required to provide medical documentation of his or her ability to safely perform the responsibilities of the position. In the interest of health and safety, medical examinations may be required at the discretion of the College.

Family Sick Leave

Family Sick Leave allows employees to use their accrued sick time to take paid time off to care for sick members of an immediate family (child, parent, spouse, or other immediate household member). A maximum of ten days each calendar year may be used for this purpose.

Connecticut-Mandated Paid Sick Leave

Non-benefit-eligible non-exempt (hourly) employees may be eligible to receive Paid Sick Leave, as mandated by the State of Connecticut.

Accrual – The accrual rate is one hour of paid sick leave for each 40 hours worked up to a maximum of 40 hours per calendar year.

Carry Over – An employee may carry over up to 40 unused accrued hours of paid sick leave from the current calendar year to the following calendar year.

Use of Paid Sick Leave – an employee will be eligible to use accrued paid sick leave after completing 680 hours of employment, from January 1, 2012 for current employees, or from date of hire, if later than January 1, 2012. The employee must also have worked at least an average of 10 hours per week in the completed calendar quarter just preceding the request for paid sick leave.

Pay – The employee will receive his or her regular base hourly rate of pay for approved sick leave.

Reasons for Use of Sick Leave

An employee may use paid sick leave for his or her own, or his or her child’s or spouse’s:

An employee may also use paid sick leave if the victim of family violence or sexual assault:

Documentation may be required for absences of three or more consecutive work days.

See the following policies for additional relevant information:

6.51 Deductions from Pay and Pay Advices 170

7.10 Family and Medical Leaves of Absence 208

7.11 Pay During Approved Leaves of Absence 218

7.12 Short-term Disability 223

7.13 Military Service Leave 227

8.05 Long-Term Disability 255